Cary 6 Measurements and Analysis - Part 1
We tested the player using Audio RightMark 5.5 and an E-MU 1212M as the capture card, at 24 bit resolution and 44.1, 48 and 96 kHz sampling rates. The following combinations of input/output were tested:
- Analog 2ch in (on D-VCR analog input), Front Left/Right preamp out
- Analog 2ch in (on D-VCR input), Zone 2 analog out
- Analog 7.1 ch Front Left/Right in (on Ext B input), Front Left/Right preamp out
- Digital in (on D-VCR coaxial input), Front Left/Right preamp out
Analog Preamplifier Tests (Audio Rightmark)
These are 96 kHz 24-bit Audio Rightmark results of the Cinema 6 as an analog preamplifier (the E-MU 1212M in external analog loopback mode is provided as a reference):
|
Test |
E-MU 1212M |
Analog D-VCR in, preamp out |
Analog 7.1 Ext B in, preamp out |
Analog D-VCR in, Zone2 out |
|
Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: |
+0.02, -0.18 |
+0.02, -0.18 |
+0.02, -0.14 |
+0.02, -0.16 |
|
Noise level, dB (A): |
-117.4 |
-101.0 |
-102.9 |
-102.1 |
|
Dynamic range, dB (A): |
115.9 |
100.9 |
102.2 |
100.9 |
|
THD, %: |
0.0007 |
0.0007 |
0.0004 |
0.0005 |
|
IMD + Noise, %: |
0.0012 |
0.011 |
0.0044 |
0.0053 |
|
Stereo crosstalk, dB: |
-115.7 |
-100.1 |
-101.0 |
-98.0 |
As can be seen, the Cinema 6 measured very well as an analog preamplifier, with specs rivaling that of high end stereo preamplifiers. For the above measurements, the master volume control was set to 0dB. At this level, the Cinema 6 preamp voltage output was close to reference, down by around 0.2-0.3dB.
The Cinema 6 appeared to be slightly better as an analog preamplifier on the multi-channel input (External 7.1 B) than on stereo inputs. The Zone 2 out (which is really nothing more than a renamed analog line level output) was also quite good, except for slightly worse stereo crosstalk.
Frequency Response
The Cinema 6 was essentially flat all the way to at least 48 kHz (the dip in high frequencies is actually due to a high pass filter in the E-MU 1212M):
Signal to Noise Ratio
The noise floor was convincingly below -100dB, with the main contributor to noise being the residual 50Hz spike from the power supply and harmonics of 50 Hz (primarily 150 Hz, 250 Hz, ...) There seemed to be a few spikes around 17 kHz and above 30kHz:
The unweighted dynamic range was around 86 dB and the A-weighted dynamic range was around 101 dB. Not quite the 110dB claimed in the manual but not bad for a pre/pro.
